


Shoulders to lean on

by duraznero



Series: The Other Woman - Leta/Tina [2]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Divergence, F/F, First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, Leta Lives AU, Mourning, POV Leta Lestrange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-17 21:39:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16982280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duraznero/pseuds/duraznero
Summary: Leta Lestrange is sure of being three things: cursed, a bad influence, and impulsive.





	Shoulders to lean on

**Author's Note:**

> This took a little longer than I would like to admit, but halfway through writing this I expanded the idea in my head so I ended up with an "epilogue" that is almost 4 times longer than the original one-shot.
> 
> This piece is intended to be a follow-up to "The other woman" but it's not necessary to have read it and actually works very well as a stand-alone.
> 
> A million thanks to my beta middleheads!
> 
> Enjoy!

It has been weeks and there wasn’t a single night where her sleep wasn’t disturbed by nightmares. She awoke always in the early morning when the sky was still dark and no living soul outside, would lie on her back, stare at the ceiling, think about what she could have done, what would have happened then and all the things that she wished she had said before it was going to be too late forever.

She didn’t tell Newt about her nocturnal terrors, she didn’t have to. He didn’t tell her about his either, and she knew of them regardless. He had invited her to stay at his flat for as long as she wanted to stay, even though she knew he would never say something if she were to exhaust his hospitality. 

Leta rose from the couch she had been lying on since at least midnight and reached out for her watch lying on the night table.  
3:30 in the early morning. She let out a deep sigh and ran her hands over her face. If her insomnia hadn’t been bothersome before, it was surely unbearable now. And still, she refused to have Dreamless Sleep simply because she had a natural dislike for being dependent on potions and medicine unless it was absolutely necessary. Newt might have said she was voluntarily trying to torture herself. 

They had been honored by the French Ministry of Magic as soon as word reached them about not just them saving all of Paris from burning to the ground, but also of Grindelwald’s rally at her family’s mausoleum. Despite being given a Medal of Honor of the Highest Degree, there had been an underlying edge to everything, and in the case of the French Minister blatantly so when he asked why the whole ordeal of destroying the fiendfyre was even necessary in the first place. They wanted to know who had allowed the rally to even occur in the first place but the person who they would have made responsible didn’t even leave behind his corpse for someone to blame.

Back in Britain, the climate was similarly stirred up, but at least they bothered with a funeral. It was well visited and it seemed that everyone who had a name to bear and wasn’t a blatant Wizard or blood supremacist had bothered to show up. Theseus Scamander, along with 13 top-class British Aurors, who perished in service for Wizardkind, was given a Order of Merlin, Third Class, post-mortem. They didn’t speak of the six deserters who had joined Grindelwald’s side of the fight, swayed by his silver tongue and scapegoat tactics to give wizardkind a reason to annihilate the non-magical people of the world.  
But a medal with a green ribbon and fancy words could never be worth the price she had paid.

Besides that, a dark thundering cloud was hanging over the Ministry of Magic. Torquil, of course, blamed Theseus and even if he had the decency to not remark upon this when Leta was present, she knew it was what he thought. Sometimes you don’t have to be a gifted Legilimens to be able to read a person.  
She hadn’t bothered taking a leave of absence even if she knew no one would have been surprised. She couldn’t afford to be seen as a weak not-widow. She had to be strong, with Grindelwald and his acolytes being on the rise.

Resisting the urge to get up and start pacing around the room, also because of the small chance that her walking around might wake one of the residents, permanent or not, she laid down again and stared at the pattern of the guestroom’s tapestry. She wanted to burn the exact image of it into her eyes and see every single detail of it, to be able to draw it just from her memory. Any distraction was welcome.

The day after the returned from Paris, she went back to her old apartment, the one she had shared with Theseus in London, but after a little over a week, she felt as if the roof was going to break in over her head: she couldn't stay for a second more than necessary. The following morning she went to the Ministry to cancel the renting contract, which was overheard by both Newt and Porpentina Goldstein and who had insisted she should stay at Newt's place until the Ministry had given her a new flat, and to avoid a lengthy argument that she was practically bound to lose, Leta gave in.  
She wasn’t the only one who stayed at his place: Porpentina, of course, did, as did the muggle man who had introduced himself as Jacob Kowalski from New York City. Coincidentally, they had also lost a loved one, albeit not in the permanent way Newt and she did. Queenie, Porpentina’s younger sister, had joined Theseus’ killer in hopes of creating a better world alongside with him.  
She tried to imagine if instead of dying, Theseus had been the seventh one among his aurors to join Grindelwald in the circle of hellfire. She would probably be more angry and disillusioned than plain and simply devastated, but in the grand scheme of things, it wouldn’t have matter. Anyone who aligned himself with a wizard supremacist terrorist had shown their true colors, no matter how good their intentions.  


But Queenie could still come back. As small as the chance was, judging from Porpentina’s loathsome words, it wasn’t out of this world for her sister to hold her once again, to be tell her how sorry she was for making the choices she made, to be two instead of one. For Newt and her, this was irreversible.  
If the pale dark-haired Obscurial with the intense eyes had really been her brother, maybe she would’ve had a different opinion. But this child was nothing to her, and she both pitied and envied him for it. He might not have a family, but at least he wasn’t her father’s son, and that was a blessing.

At some point when she was in her second year at Hogwarts, she realized that her father never loved her, not even liked her, and in return, Leta had hated the old man back. She loathed him with the passion of thousand demonic shapes made of Fiendfyre ready to consume an entire metropole for most of her youth, had rebelled against every rule he had ever bothered to put upon her. There had been countless howlers and his furious voice yelled at her in French while the entire Hogwarts hall listened on in confused horror, threats of taking her off the school and sending her to Durmstrang or Beauxbatons and yet it never happened, and something told Leta it wasn’t out of the goodness in Corvus Senior’s heart.  
He wouldn’t have cared if Yusuf - her own half-brother, so righteous and willing to do everything for his beloved father - had hurt her because he thought Leta to be the only human being Corvus loved. Maybe he was angry that Yusuf did no such thing on the day Leta and he met. 

Her dark emotions seemed to cloud her while she was lying in bed. Her eyelids went heavy and the combination of pondering upon one’s life and utter exhaustion proved to be stronger than the sleeping draught her old Potions Master brew for her when she had suffered from insomnia back in her Hogwarts days.

 

Theseus grabbed her arm and managed to yank her away from the sapphire flames Grindelwald threw at her after she had destroyed the artifact which allowed him to project his false prophecies to corruptible minds. The Dark wizard’s face was a grimace of fury and hatred, robbed of a powerful means to subjugate others and she knew he was out to kill her. Leta didn’t like the idea of dying - who did? - but she didn’t fear it. Death was, after all, merely the next adventure. But when Theseus intervened and conjured a Protego charm around her, Leta could do nothing but stare at him as if it was the first time she had ever seen him. As if through a veil clouding her ever senses she noticed Newt charging at them, throwing shield charms in order to not be consumed by the flames, to take them - both of them - away from this hellish place.

“Grindelwald!” 

Theseus’ scream was heard clearly despite the roaring Fiendfyre beasts, he walked down the steps and pointed his wand at his opponent. 

The acolyte who had assisted him during the rally, was next to him at once and raised her wand to take on the one challenging her master, but Grindelwald merely gave her a hand signal and his colorless lips turned upwards into a cruel smile. He gave Theseus an mocking nod, accepting his challenge.

Newt reached her and just as she was about to dash forward to grab onto Theseus so they could apparate away, a shockwave sent them stumbling backwards away from him. Only once everything was over they realized it had been Theseus who had stopped them. He looked back over his shoulder, his hair out of place and with a pleading yet determinate expression on his face while the flames roared behind him, trying to get through the Protego charm. It was a terrifying image, yet Theseus had never looked more beautiful.

“I love you.” Words meant for both his fiancée and his brother. 

She almost felt as if her vocal cords would tear when she screamed, realizing a split second too late what he was about to do. But the flames had already engulfed him, ate at his skin, flesh and then bones until there was nothing left of him. She charged forwards, wand raised and feeling that solely her rage would give her the power to defeat Grindelwald at this very moment, but instead she felt a grip around her lower arm and the pull and sensation of an apparition.

Leta awoke with a start from her half slumber, feeling hot and as if she was suffocating beneath her blanket. Sweat was on her brow and she reached to wipe it away along with the tears that had started to spill over her face. Sudden anger surged in her, she threw away the blanket, rose from the bed and changed from her sleeping clothes into her dress robe. Once she was fully dressed, she opened her luggage and waved her wand to have her few belongings she had brought here fly into the case.  
It was probably a stupid decision which Leta would regret, but she had to get out of here.  
She closed the door with perhaps a bit too much force than necessary and descended from the first floor into the living room.

To her surprise, she wasn’t the only one who was already awake: Porpentina sat on the couch, a steaming beverage on her lap with her hands wrapped around the cup, and looking just as startled as Leta herself did. She put her mug on the coffee table in front of her and stood up abruptly. For a few seconds, the two women merely stared at each other, wide eyed, Leta felt a sudden sting of embarrassment. She was fleeing like a coward and got by caught on her way out. Yet, she wouldn’t have minded if it was Newt because he would have understood, but Porpentina? Who knew what kind of impression she gave off now?  
Leta felt blood rushing into her cheeks and opened her mouth to say something, but closed it instead when her mind blanked. 

“Leta.” Porpentina said, her voice slightly rough as if she was starting to get tired. “Is there anything wrong?” 

“I couldn’t sleep.”, Leta began slowly, her tongue felt as if it was made of lead. “I have trouble getting rest lately.”

Porpentina let out an amused laugh. “Well, that makes two of us. Wanna talk about it? I can make another cup if you want to.”

Leta shook her head. “No, don’t bother. I was-”, she held her breath, not knowing how to explain herself and tried again, “I’m fine, but I think I have to go.”

The other woman raised an eyebrow and her eyes widened slightly when she noticed the luggage Leta was still holding in her hand.

“In the middle of the night?”

Leta took a deep breath, summoned the courage necessary and said: “Yes. I have to leave right now, tell Newt I’m sorry.”

“Are you sure you’re fine?” She stood up and slowly walked towards Leta. “Let me take your bag and sit with me.”

Leta quickly shook her head, took up her step again and walked to the front door, opening it just enough for her to slip through. 

“No, I can't, I really have to go.”, she said decisively when rustling noises behind her indicated that Porpentina was moving through the living room quickly, probably with the intention of wanting to follow her. 

“Leta!”

Leta ignored the cry and stepped outside. She had to get just out of the vicinity of Newt's apartment to be able to apparate, then she’d not bother her former best friend anymore.

“Leta!!”

Just as she felt the familiar tug of the apparition, a hand grabbed her by the shoulder and was pulled along with her. It happened all too fast, and a split second afterwards she and Porpentina appeared at her intended location.  
They stood in front of a large irongate, encased by two large black hedges, and a path led to an old mansion on a hilltop. In the darkness of early morning, it looked like the castle of a Dark wizard from the stories Irma used to read to her when she had been a child. In a way, it was one too.  
A pained scream pulled her out of her thoughts, and Leta turned around to see Tina fall onto her knees, her left hand wrapped around her right one and head bowed down. 

“Ms Goldstein!” Leta exclaimed and hurried to kneel next to her and help her back on her feet. 

“This hasn’t happened to me in years.” 

Porpentina laughed, and upon looking onto her face Leta realized there were tears of pain beginning to stream over her cheeks. She gently took her hand and removed it from the wounded one, then winced. It was a nasty splint, nothing life-threatening but surely to be painful. 

“There has to be Dittany at the mansion. Come, let’s hurry.” she said soothingly and pulled Porpentina up who clung onto her arm as if she was about to collapse from the pain. 

They didn’t have to open the gates to the Lestrange estate, it let anyone of the bloodline pass through and those with them. Back when she was younger and before she went to Hogwarts, she thought it was the biggest estate in all of England, and she would hide in the gardens to escape the life in the house, but later she learned that it was by far not the largest Wizarding estate even in all of Hampshire County.  
After her father’s death two years after her graduation from Hogwarts, the British branch of the Lestranges tried to claim the manor as their own since there had been no mention of her in the testament and already had an apprenticeship at the Ministry which included an apartment in London, but by then Leta had already made useful connections in the Ministry of Magic, which she thought would still not hold against the powers the Lestranges held as a Pureblood family of old. That she won the case came as a surprise to her, and even though there were rumors about there having been external influences that ultimately ensured Leta's victory, nothing could ever be proven and she remained the house’s rightful owner. The house itself had no sentimental value for her whatsoever, but she still hired a gardener who took care of the estate. 

Now, she hoped that the Everlasting-Dustless charm hadn’t faded since she last cast it, and that the potions in the infirmary didn’t turn bad.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t want you to get hurt.”, she said earnestly and continued the path up to the manor.

“It’s not your fault, I took you by surprise and didn’t prepare myself for Apparating.” Porpentina breathed heavily, obviously focus on that instead of her pain, and leaned even more onto Leta as they walked. Leta once again felt blood rush into her face at the closeness she had with Porpentina right now. She was by nature a solitary person and body contact to people she didn’t know very well tended to unnerve her, but with Ms Goldstein it wasn’t only that.

They reached the steps and while ascending, the entrance door swung open, recognizing the mistress of the house right away. The lights came to life by themselves and to Leta’s relief, the house looked as if it had been cleaned just a few days ago. She guided Porpentina to the grand living salon where she sat down on a deep violet couch, and hurried to the infirmary cabinet in the kitchen which they used to kept essences and potions. A quick look assured her that not only did they still have enough Dittany’s essence but also that its color was still characteristically brown. 

Back in the living room, Porpentina had put her head back, her eyes closed and her injured hand pressed between her two knees. She was biting her lips and her other hand was clenched so strongly that the knuckles were of a stark bloodless white.

“Here we go.” Leta said softly and took her hand. She poured the Dittany directly onto the still strongly bleeding wound and almost instantly steam rose and new skin taunted itself over the injury. She felt Porpentina exhale and relax and in turn also calmed down.

“Thank you.” She looked up from the still healing hand and into the woman’s face, framed by dark short hair and wearing a soft grateful smile.

“Don’t mention it. she stood up rather abruptly, “ would es you like some tea?”

“Oh. Yes, of course.”

“Once again, I’m sorry for the incident.”

“Please, don’t apologize for what you’re not guilty of.”

Leta nodded and returned to the kitchen. Taking a deep breath once she knew she was out of Porpentina’s sight, she prepared the tea and tried to reassemble her thoughts and how to deal with this situation.  
If coming here on her own might have been a mistake, now it was for sure. She came here because she had wanted some solitude that wasn’t in the apartment she had shared with Theseus in London, she couldn’t have been able to bear it. And despite her enjoying her life at home under her father’s roof, it was still her property and the only place that now truly belonged to her and her alone.  
She scoffed and sat down at the table. The moment she saw that Porpentina was awake she should’ve know the woman would’ve tried to prevent her from leaving, and yet she had still been as impulsive as ever. She didn’t want her to think bad of her, to see her as a coward who ran away when the drama in her life overwhelmed her. But who knew what she already thought of her? After all, she was a witness to Leta’s confession when she told Yusuf the true story of what happened to Corvus. Did she think her a murderer? Probably, and it hit Leta harder than she would have thought. After all, she had just met this woman days ago, this beautiful creature with eyes and hair like charcoal and angular yet soft features, and the thought of being disliked or even hated by her distressed Leta more than she would have admitted.  
Yet she had kept her distance, not sure if the friendliness Porpentina had displayed the days in which and after they were honored with the Merlin Order, Second Class, by the Ministry and Theseus’s funeral was mere superficial and a mask to disguise her antipathy or if she truly did not think lesser of Leta after essentially exposing herself as a cold-hearted murderer, born to a monstrous father and cursed with a horrible family history.

The enchanted tea kettle gave a high ear-piercing whistle, tearing her away from her thoughts.  
With a sign, she took it in one hand, two cups in the other and returned to the salon. She had almost forgotten what it was like to wander through the house, in fact she had never done any careless wandering here. Her life within these four walls consisted of discomfort, fear and hatred, instead of idly walking down the stairs or along the corridors she walked with brisque steps, ran not with the carelessness of a child but someone who wanted to get out of this hostile place as soon as possible.  
The walls were higher than in Newt’s apartment and wooden, lined with portraits of past Lestranges who had all left their frames the moment it was clear that there was going to be no more life in this house. Leta prayed they wouldn’t sense her presence and return.

She was surprised to find Porpentina standing with her back to the door and observing the room she was brought to. Leta personally had spent little time in the living salon and to her, it would always have a cold and unwelcoming air to it, but it was up to her to change that now.

“There you go.” She put the cups down and the other woman turned around.

“Oh, thank you very much.”

“How is your hand?”

“Better, much better. The pain has mostly faded but it still feels warm.”

Porpentina sat down on the couch while Leta filled the two cups she brought with tea. 

“This is your family’s manor, right?”

Leta paused while pouring, made a face and scoffed sardonically. “Yes.” 

She didn’t want to talk about this house or her family, least to her out of all people. She passed over the cup and sat down on the couch across from Porpentina who seemed to notice her discomfort and instead of asking what was obviously on her mind opted to drinking her tea in silence. The awkward silence thickened the air and was only interrupted by the occasional sips each of them took.  
Finally after she was done and put her cup on the coffee table, Porpentina gave in and looked right into Leta’s face.

“Why did you come here if you obviously hate this place so much?”

Leta shrugged. “I don’t know. I make impulsive and bad decisions all the time, it’s just one in a row of many.” It sounded harsher than it sounded in her head, and Porpentina raised an eyebrow. Skepticism, which was slowly replaced by understanding.

“If taking on Grindelwald and your confession in the crypt are bad decisions in your opinion, I have to disagree. I don’t know if I would’ve had the courage and bravery to do so.”  
The comment took Leta aback. Her mouth opened, closed again, and she shook her head.

“I know you would’ve never even thought about killing your sister in the first place. Just like I know you wouldn’t have anyone sacrifice themselves for you to live.”

“Leta, I cannot imagine the impact Theseus’ death had on you-”

“Yes, you’re right, you can’t.”

Leta rose abruptly and stared down at Porpentina who put down her cup and looked at her with wide eyes full of emotion. This blatant pity written all over her face didn’t soothe her in the least, on the contrary, she felt anger surge within her and she walked away from the coffee table and stopped in front of the unlit fireplace. 

“So please, don’t attempt to understand me. I don’t need your sympathy.” She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly feeling a chill that froze deep into her bones.

Steps behind her that came close made her whirl around and Porpentina stopped dead in her tracks like a deer in the headlights. 

“Theseus didn’t just ‘die’, he sacrificed himself, you hear me? You wouldn’t know, because you had already left, but he put himself between me and Grindelwald and for that, he was murdered. I was the one who was supposed to die that night, not Theseus. And you know what? I took on Grindelwald because I knew he had to be stopped somehow, I was the only one left who could get close to him and that no matter how small the change of success was, I had to do it. Instead I failed and what’s worse, someone died for me instead.”

Porpentina was still looking at her, her dark eyes glittering but she didn’t move towards her. Leta’s head was pounding and starting to spin but she forced herself to stand her ground.

“Please leave, go back to London and tell Newt I’m sorry. For everything that happened in Hogwarts, for being such an awful friend and for Theseus. I have done nothing good for him ever, only caused him pain, and he’s not the only one.”

Furiously she wiped away the tears threatening to spill over her face and didn’t break eye contact with Porpentina, who herself had an odd look on her face and still hasn’t budged.

“Do you want to end up like my baby brother? My mother? My fiancé? Newt? I’m a bad influence, everyone I come close to suffers, and while this hare-braided prophecy was wrong at the end of the day, the curse on me that dooms everyone I grow to care about isn’t. Bloody hell, even Yusuf’s life was ruined so I could be born!”

She took a step forward and stood right in front of Porpentina. 

“I’m not good for anything and whenever I try, people get hurt. Newt almost got expelled and Theseus-” 

She couldn’t continue her sentence. It got stuck in her throat and instead a sob escaped her. Any self-respect and pride she had tried to uphold faded and she buried her face in her hands, fully submitting to the weight that had been lying on her for the last weeks and cried, for Theseus, her mother and her brothers. Her legs went wobbly but instead of collapsing onto the floor, two arms shot out and held her steady, embraced her and a hand stroked the back of her head.< br/> Automatically she wrapped her arms around Porpentina and sobbed uncontrollably, letting everything out. She had never cried on someone else’s shoulder before without any care at all, not even Theseus’ even though he had always had an open ear and had wanted their relationship to be one where they could talk about everything and would offer advice and comfort to each other. The thought of Theseus; lovely, kind and brave Theseus, was a sting to her heart and she buried her face a little deeper into the crook of Porpentina’s neck, who held her a little stronger in turn and to her surprise was also shaking in silent sobs.

Leta couldn’t tell when she let go of the other woman, she had lost all sense of time in her misery, but when she did, she noticed that her eyes were puffy as well and her cheekbones blotchy with red. The hand on the back of her head went to Leta’s face, first wiping away the tears and then gently holding it.

“You,” she began, “are not cursed. You are a courageous, selfless and kind person. Would a monster have spit in the face of Grindelwald’s lie? Would it have prevented Yusuf from killing an innocent?” She softly stroked Leta’s face and smiled through her own tears, “You might have been the bravest person that fought against Grindelwald that night.”

Leta stared into her eyes, searching for a lie in those words, anything that raised doubt in what she said, but there was none. Unconsciously she moved her hands from Porpentina’s back and onto her waist. The moment in which they held their gaze seemed to last an eternity, until both of them seemed to realize what they were doing and both let go of the other rather abruptly.

“Thank you”, Leta coughed, “you’re too kind.”

Porpentina, who was wiping away her own tears, snorted. “No, I’m just honest. I can’t stand seeing you like this, self-loathing and full of guilt. Adults make their own decisions, and Theseus made his.” She softly touched Leta’s upper arm. “You are not to blame for what happened to him.”

Leta grimaced. “Grindelwald will pay for this. Not just Theseus, but everyone who died and suffered because of him. We can’t let him win.”

“We won’t let the bastard win.” Porpentina whispered, an absent-minded look in her face and took a deep breath as if she had to summon the courage to say the next words. "You know, my sister, Queenie, she’s a good person. There is no person who has more empathy and understanding for others, but if someone like her can become poisoned by Grindelwald’s philosophy… then anyone can. And this frightens me.”

“We have to be strong and united.” She hesitated before saying what she was thinking next. “I am glad I will be fighting along your side, Porpentina.”

“Thank you, Leta, as am I. And please, it’s Tina.” Tina smiled, and Leta returned it.

 

The sky had gone from midnight blue at their arrival to a mixture of light blue, red and purple by the time they closed the door of the manor behind them. The morning was warm for mid-September despite the sun not setting yet and still hiding behind the hills. 

“This is a very beautiful garden,” Tina stated, looking around, “I couldn’t really notice on the way here, but it’s almost even more beautiful than the manor.”

Leta laughed softly. “That’s exactly what I always thought.”

“Are you sure about wanting to stay here? I wouldn’t- I mean, Newt surely wouldn’t mind having you at his place for more time. You’re friends after all.”

“Yes, I think I am. Not because I want to live here, but I just got a thought when I remembered something Professor Dumbledore told me when Newt and I met up with him. I think we might need a base of operations in Britain besides the ministry. I’m ready and willing to provide that.” They reached the iron gates and walked through them, as they had done on their arrival. “I will send an owl to you once I’ve made all the arrangements.”

Tina nodded and twitched all of the sudden and clutched her hand, a brief expression of pain on her face.

“Let me see.” Leta gently took her hands, removed the fingers of the uninjured hand and softly touched skin that looked as if it had never been injured in the first place. “Does it hurt?”

“It’s not so bad.” 

The tremble in Tina’s voice made her look up and dark eyes met each other. Tina was looking at her the same way someone would look at a piece of art one was interesting in, and she almost felt as if this look was burning into her, staring right into her soul and laying her bare before the other’s eyes. She continued to gently touch the back of Tina’s hand and caught her breath when the tip of Tina’s fingers grazed over her wrist.

“Feels better now, thanks.”, Tina said and leaned down to kiss Leta’s cheek. 

Her lips were soft and warm on her skin and Leta felt blood rush into her face, it was unexpected but not exactly unwelcome. Tina seemed to hesitate, unsure of how Leta would react to this sudden contact, but Leta reached up and in turn kissed Tina on her cheek to.  
When she pulled back, their faces were separated by an inch, perhaps less, and again Leta noticed just how beautiful Tina was, eyes like molten chocolate, hair like dark brown silk and a neck slender as a swan's. Her gaze wandered downwards to pink and slightly parted lips, and looking back into her eyes she noticed that Tina was also looking at her mouth.

She had always been impulsive, so of course she put her hands on Tina’s shoulders and stood on the tips of her toes as she pressed her lips against Tina’s in a chaste kiss. It lasted merely a second when Leta pulled away with a gasp and wide eyes, about to apologize, but Tina reaching up and softly tracing her jawline made her stop.  
It wasn’t as much pulling her down than Tina bending over for them to meet halfway, their lips meeting once again and this time with more passion than before. Tina’s lips tasted like tea with too much sugar, and Leta drank in it, buried her hands in Tina’s short hair and deepened the kiss until they were on the verge of losing themselves in it. Their noses bumped against each other and she felt a hand wander to her waist and pulling her closer. Tina’s tongue grazed her teeth and she sucked on Tina’s bottom lip, and when Tina hummed into her mouth, Leta knew she never wanted this moment to end.

When they parted, both of them were out of breath, her head was spinning and Tina’s lips were swollen and red. Her hand was still caressing Leta’s face and her own hand played with a strand of Tina’s hair. They completely let go of each other almost reluctantly, and Tina reached for her wand to prepare herself for apparition.

“Thank you for your hospitality, Leta.”, she said with a twinkle in her eyes and a genuine smile.

“You’re very welcome.”

There was a crack, and Leta was alone again. She took a few deep breaths of the morning air with closed eyes. When she opened them, the first ray of sunshine hit her directly in the face. Her right hand went to her lips and she smiled to herself, then turned around and started walking back to the manor.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm seriously considering on keeping this AU alive, even if I actually have other WIPs for this and other fandoms, but since I'm gonna be on my Christmas break soon, I will try to start and finish what I can. 
> 
> I already know some people will find the choice of Leta kissing another person less than a month after her fiancé died a bit odd, but consider that she is emotionally vulnerable and lonely ever since. With what we know from canon is that Leta was despised by many people in the Wizarding community either for, in their eyes, purposefully killing her brother but also for being a Lestrange, who have a reputation of being Dark sorcerers. She doesn't have many friends, co-workers barely count and both she and Newt refuse to open up to one another, partly because they know the other wouldn't be comfortable with it. So Tina approaching her and them opening up to each is extremely cathartic for her and she feels almost as if she's floating afterwards, leading to her making that decision. Just some insight from my point on view on that!
> 
> And as always, feedback and constructive criticism are more than welcome. :)


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